2011 Ford Escape owners are reporting

Just bought a 2011 Ford Escape XLT and thought it would be nice for the 2011 owners to chat. I just checked my mileage on my first tank of fuel and got 29.4 mpg which is way better than my 2008 tacoma which got 20.

Comments

Well I just hit 9000 miles today and filled the tank. (28.8mpg) Computer said 29.1 so close enough. So far no problems. Great SUV. I see that Ford has redesigned the 2012 Escape. Looks like its built on the Focus plateform? I think they sell 200,000 a year so I hope they do not regret it.

Ford is ruining the Excape for 2012 and making it look like the edge , even more freaky! I need to hurry now to get a 2011 Excape before they make it into the new Etsel . Bet sale will fall for this ugly mini van look they are giving her ! Drug test the designer I think they are taking crack !

I know what you are saying. I believe its going to be built on the Focus platform but not sure. The great thing about the escape is its size/function/gas mileage (at least for the 4cyl) They sell 200,000 escapes a year so i do not know what the hell they are thinking. I am betting my 2011 resale value is going to be very nice indeed. I have gotten between 27 and 29MPG every tank full so far and have had no issue's what so ever.

I just picked up my 2011 Ford Escape last night. I loved my old Ford Explorer which I had for 14 years. Then I went to a Honda CRV for 3 years but I wanted to go back to Ford. The Honda was too confining and small. I'm a little concerned though with the mileage on the Ford. I know they say it takes a bit to break it in to see the mileage but, I have 160 miles on it and it is only at 17.6 mpg! When I picked up the Honda CRV the first time, it was at 24 mpg within the first 50 miles. Has anyone else had this problem with it taking a while to get that good gas mileage? BTW, I forgot to add that it is a 4 cyl. I thought I'd get the 4 instead of the 6 cyl in order to gain better gas mileage. I hope this isn't what it is going to be because I'd rather have the 6 cyl in that case!

I can tell you that short trips will kill your gas mileage in the escape. I drive 70% highway and average between 28 & 29 mpg but when I get out of my normal schedule and make a bunch of short trips it will drop to 25mpg. You may not be as excited with the mileage comming from a CRV as I was coming from a Truck that only got 20mpg highway.

Hey Ford ! Why do you think we buy so many Ford Escapes , because we love the looks of it and my 2011 is one of the best looking cars I have ever owned. Maybe you can sell those ugly 2012 Escapes to former Mini Van owners because you sure are not going to get any repeat business from any former Escape owners. Yes the designers must be smoking crack ! 2012 :sick: Ford :lemon: Escape :surprise:

Holly Cow ! You must have your foot in it all the time! I have 1600 mile on mine now and my I4 is getting 26 + mpg right out of the box and I thought I hot footed it a little. Just got mine back getting the Katzkin limited edition leather seats being put in my silver with black interior Escape XLT and it looks sweet ! The Katzkin leather is so soft and the silver stitching and silver panel looks so good. After I get the running boards and the MB Sprite Wheels put on it , it will be perfect !

Just traded in 2010 Fusion for 2011 Escape. Reason for trade in is very hinky trans. Well the Escapes' tranny is the cousin of it. It is a tad better but still can't decide what gear it wants. The mileage is not great (26 highway) and I feel that the reason for the 6 auto was to improve mpg. but when a car over revs. and doesn't shift smooth, well there goes the good mileage. I can understand lesser mpg in city but going under 75 on freeway I do expect at least 28. Good news is I did not BUY the escape, just a lease this time. Will Ford EVER admit this trans. is just not right? Never, cause they have sold so many they just don't care. This may be my last Ford.

Has anyone had trouble with their 2011 escape with the variable timing solenoid? Dealer had to replace mine at 12,000 miles and told me if I did not want another one to fail that I would have to change my oil every 3000 miles. I have a call into Ford. Can anyone tell me what TSB 11-2-10 says? It is a service bullentin for this problem. Basically my escape started to run rough then the check engine light came on and then when I shut it off it would not re-start. I would like to know how changing my oil @ 5000 miles created problem to make this thing fail?

I'm having an ongoing problem with debris (twigs, leaves, seedllings from trees) blowing up under the hood and lodging itself ontop of the engine block under the air filter. After a while, due to the engine heat, the debris heats up and begins to smoke and my car smells like a campfire. I've vacuumed the debris off of the engine and this eliminated the problem for a while, but eventually more debris finds it's way back on top of the engine. Anyone else experiencing this?

I have a new 2012 Ford Escape XLT and am having serious problems with my automatic transmission. I am driving along and while the xmission is shifting...all of a sudden the car is not responding to the gears..it is as though the motor stops (but it it still running) when I depress the gas pedal nothing happens and then all ofr a suuden it will "get in gear again". I took it back and the service mgr. said they fixed it but did NOt give me a service receipt. IT seems it only happens when I first start out in the mornings and then it is fine the rest of the day???? Any suggestions ???

I know what you mean about not only the trans. but the fact that Dealer didn't give you a service receipt. It happened twice with my 2010 Fusion (trans problems). They do this because 1. They don't want to own up to the fact that the trans. does NOT perform well. 2. The problem will never appear on a Carfax list. As for being ok for the rest of the day..trust me your problems will not go away. My current 2011 Escape has same lousy trans. but I am just ignoring it because it's a lease. Ford doesn't care so rather than watch my blood pressure go up and argue with them (I have heard every excuse including...its the way you drive to thats' the way they should operate or yes we found trans was a bit low on fluid so now its ok. Ha. I really feel sorry for you especially if you bought this car.

3 times in the shop with tranny problems. Hard Shifting, shakes the whole suv including the driver. Presently have it in the Grogan dealership, again! This is my first FORD, I am beginning to regret it.they had to replace the gear shift mechanism, the solenoid made a audible clunking sound when shifting from park to drive. you could feel the vibration.Not impressed with Assembled with pride in Kansas, parts globally sourced.

I bought my 2012 Escape on Dec 29, 2011. At about 250 miles, the car starting having problems shifting. This only happens for the first time out of the drive every morning. After 20-30 minutes of driving, the issue stops. Also it is fine for the rest of the day.

This issue with shifting is between 2-3, and 3-4 gears. When shifting between 2-3 gears, it acts like it doesnt know what to do; then after a second or two, it decides to upshift and the car starts moving again. Then between 3-4 gears it will act like it is slipping the clutch.

When I called the dealer at 250 miles, they tried to tell me that the car needed to "learn" how I drive. At 720 miles, the problem was getting more pronounced. I took the car to the dealership and left it overnight for them to replicate the problem. They applied a TSB to "fix it." So I was hopeful. This morning on the commute to work, the issue was worse than ever. The car is back at the shop again. I have to drive the car for them tomorrow morning so they can experience the issue....

agreed! I hear the same BS here, 'has to learn'. discussing this intently with the dealership, Grogan Ford, here in Ontario. Check the LemonAid guide, they call it, gear hunting. The dealer is telling me it a programming problem, I agree. This is the 3rd time.I am telling them, this is not a ISSUE..its a PROBLEM, solve it!I wondering who does the programming, its not mac!we had bought 2008 escape same tranny, a dream to drive.

Manufacturer's are doing EVERYTHING possible to improve FE, taking long looks at WEIGHT. Transaxle sump volume minimized results in less ATF volume/weight/cost. When ATF is COLD there is not enough volume to support full functionality.

DO NOT OVERFILL...!

Overfilling will result in FROTHING of the ATF due to gearset partial immersion in ATF.

Try letting the engine idle for a few minutes before driving away and see if the functionality improves. If it does then you can tell the (st,d)ealer what the problem is.

we do...we warm the engine for 2-3 minutes, or longer, depending on how cold it was. There is a problem with the tranny, a shaft. plus a gasket. This is NOT uncommon. Edmonds calls it, gear hunting. There should be no reason to fill the tranny that has only 40Km, and being an oil based fluid, it does take awhile to warm and therefore volume increases once the warmth.

So I left the car overnight at the dealership and then went the next morning to drive it for them. They told me that they see what I'm saying about the shifting but that 1) other peoples are much worse 2) it's not "bad enough" for them to try to fix 3) that if I really drive it hard it won't do it as bad. Unfortunately, there are speed limits where I live....

I have a 2011 model as a rental car and loved it. This 2012 model is HORRIBLE.

The Transaxle ATF pump, like the power steering pump, is a rather serious factor in the loss of overall efficiency regarding the need to improve FE. So far, unlike the PS pump, no adequate and/or inexpensive solution is as yet available.

So for the moment the interim solution for improving FE is to reduce the displacement volume of the ATF pressure pump while also reducing, in real time, the pressure "head" against which the pump must work.

While reducing the displacement will most definitely yield a return in improved FE, there is an obvious shortcoming....

In order to provide enough pressurized fluid in all cases the engine must operate, more consistently operate, at a higher RPM than otherwise would be the case.

You need to be something of a "lead foot".

So what the dealer was advising you was true, not to "bust" the speed limit but to accelerate up to that limit more aggressively. The transaxle will remain in the lower gear ratios for longer periods of time, ergo, consistently higher engine RPM.

Catch 22...?

Porsche is now using an electronically controlled variable displacement engine lubricating oil pump. Base displacement is high enough that adequate oil pressure volume can be supplied with the engine idling, and then "linearly" reduced in displacement volume as engine RPM rises.

Maybe that will be the eventual answer for the LOSSY ATF gear type pressure pump. Or maybe even a replication of the ABS pumpmotor/accumulator system.

if its under warranty, either go to another dealer! or talk with the manager. There IS problem with the transmission. ours had a sharp shift from 1 to 2..then at 25mph, it went gear hunting (check the lemonaid guide)...Mr. Edmonston is true in his predictions..

Its a bad on the tranny plus shaft.The dealership boys are Lazy, Parts from Asian...assembled with pride in Kansas.

yes, it is a reality..harsh shifting @ low end, gear hunting about 20mph, then a slam into 3. The whole truck shuttered.had nothing to do with the tranny fluid. Its was a seal problem & shaft. But did check the tranny fluid.But realizing where the parts originate (off shore), and possible design of the part, I am keeping an eye & ear on this. The dealership was helpful, in this case. He could not assure me with 100% that is would not happen again.

Unfortunately the situation does not get better. I bought my 2010 Ford Escape last year in Feb. It had a little over 19K miles on it... Granted for only being a year old it already had its fair share of miles on it. I work and live in the same city on the same street to be exact and live only within 5 miles of where I work. At 24087 miles I had already had enough at this point of the shifting issues. The problem that I was experiencing was I would be at a stop sign or light when I would start to drive and take my foot off the gas as I was turning left the Escape would hit so hard that it felt like someone hit me from behind... It almost gave me a heart attack. When I took it in the service guy said I think I might know what the problem is. Keep it here and I will call you when we are done looking at it. He said that there is a part within the transmission that needs to be rebooted and told how to drive. The same exact thing you were told. I thought wow we are driving computers now isnt this great! When I picked up my Escape he stated that this is in fact what the problem was and it should be fine. A little bit later not only did I experience the kick again I started having high RPM's just pulling out of my son's daycare it would go up to 4. I have noticed that I do not get good gas mileage either. So literally less than 800 miles later I took it back to them. All my issues with the transmission shifting is all under 40 mph... It used to only be under 20 but that has changed. Every time I take the Escape in they tell me that their machine does NOT detect any problems. So they decided to take it for a ride themselves and for 10 miles they came to the realization that I was not wrong that they see what I was talking about. So he reset the transmission again. I asked wow is this a normal thing... How much does this cost each time if I didnt have a warranty... The cashier said $150.00. Already Im thinking omg... What am I gonna do when my warranty up... And is there a recall out there? No recall:( Now I bring it home and still have all of the same issues... I bring it back the 3rd time at this point they keep my Escape for a week literally. And the mileage at this point was only 25161 and on 10/14/11... I havent even had the thing for a year yet... They said the machine did not detect anything again...I told them I am not crazy. They test drove it again and realized that something is really wrong with it... At this point they found the following only through driving... A flare on 3-4 R-R Trans to oh found od 4-5-6 worn clutches. At this point they said that they replaced the entire transmission hence the reason for keeping it a week. Now here we are March...I have been experiencing the same problems. On Tuesday I went to pick my son up from daycare when to get something to eat and then was on my way home only to come to a stop light and when I take off the car dies on my in the middle of the street I didnt even make it past the light. All the lights are on in the car and this orange wrench is showing lit up on the dash. I started the Escape and went to drive on to get home and it did it again not even a full 2 miles down the road. It happened a 3rd time a block later and at this point I knew I could not keep driving. I called a wrecker to come and tow me to the dealership. The next morning I went to the dealership and at 29475 miles I hear the machine says there is nothing wrong. I have had it at this point. I think I have a lemon and I am going to go about looking into the laws. I think Ford has a serious problem with the way that they make vehicles today and they are trying to hold on so bad that this is the way that they keep business rolling by having crappy cars. I would advise you to do the same as there is obviously something wrong with their transmissions and there is nothing that they can do to fix the problem. Good luck with yours!!